- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Believe it or not, there is a military heiarchy within the game. Like humans, the Covenant do have rankings, and become harder as rank increases. Grunts, for example, come in three main varieties: the Pointy Red, the Curved Orange, and the Black. They are in ascending order of ranking. The Pointy ones are the most common, and basically equate privates. Sometimes you'll see the more rare Curved grunts. I believe they are ranked something similar to Corporal. The Black (I forget their shape) are like Black Ops/ Artillery. They can carry Fuel Rod Canons. My assumption would be something like a Staff or normal Sergeant.
Jackals come in a couple of flavors, with a differentiation that I believe may be there but am unsure of. Blue shieled Jackals appear to be like Lieutenants. They sometimes where a helmet, sometimes not. I think there may be a heirarchy to this, but I've never seen it or heard of it. The Yellow shielded Jackals are Captains, or so I've heard. They generally can take more hits, and may or may not where a helmet. Again, I have my suspicions about this, but not proof proving one way or another.
Elites are the more senior officers. The most basic one is the Purple, and are Majors. They are relatively common and easy to kill. The next step above them is something like a Brigadier General, and are a Darkish Purple, almost red. They are less common, and seem to have more authority than their lighter counterparts. Except on Legendary, again, they are not too much of a threat, just requre a bit more caution. Golds appear to be something like Admirals or Generals (they seem to command ships and infantry). These are something to be feared, as on most difficulties they can take a full AR clip and keep coming with their shields still up. They usually carry Plasma Swords.
There are also two special types of Elites, who don't seem to carry a rank. Black Op Elites, who wear Black armor, are a little easier than their Gold counterparts, but still are to be watched for. They carry only projectile weapons, but are very good at them. The second type are the ones in Light Blue armor, and use Active Camaflague. Although they don't have shields, they use stealth to sneak up on you and kill you. They can carry swords, although it's a dead giveaway.
All Elites except Black can carry swords, although Gold seem to use it the most effectively.
Now, this may be a prejudiced observation, and I have no proof to back this up, but the heiarchy actually does effect the battle. As you may have noticed, the death of all Elites on a team will usually cause the Grunts to retreat. However, I have noticed occasionally that the death of an Elite would not route them because Jackals were also in the area. Although less so for the Blue ones, Yellow seem to be able to command attacks, but not as effectively as the Elites can. In addition, Yellow Jackals command Blue Jackals, just as Rounded Grunts seem to be able to command Pointy ones. If the Rounded one does not run away, the Pointy ones seem less likely to run away. Again, I have no proof of this, but it is a compilation of my observations.
[Edited on 9/20/2004 8:55:42 PM]